THERE’LL be summer wine in Holmbridge now council planners have given the go-ahead for the town’s first winery.

At last Becky and Ian Sheveling can make plans for the 7,000 vines they planted by hand after Kirklees Council granted permission for a large agricultural building.

The couple set up Holmfirth Vineyard after buying the derelict Woodhouse Farm in 2007.

And this weekend, they are giving people the chance to see the fruits of their labour on an organised tour.

The pair ditched their high-flying careers to create their Yorkshire vineyard dream in 2008.

Now, with a baby on the way, they are looking forward to creating 30,000 bottles of Holmbridge-grown English wine when their first official harvest takes place next September.

Dad-to-be Ian said: “It is going to be a very exciting year next year.

“The new building will house the stainless steel tanks and there’ll be a grape press, grape de-stemmer and space for bottling and labelling the wine.

“We were hoping to have it done for October but it might be a little bit delayed.

“But the winery equipment is on order and we can always fit it in one of the other buildings for now.”

The couple have bought in supplies of the same grapes they are growing in Holmbridge to enable them to start producing wine before the big 2010 harvest.

Ian, 36, added: “We want to build up as much knowledge as we can without ruining our crop next year.

“We have Martin Fowke, one of the top winemakers in the country, working with us. He is a consultant who comes for the day, tastes the wine and tells us what we need to be doing.”

And while they wait for their vines to mature, the couple are busy establishing their vineyard business as a centre for education and tourism.

They have already launched an Adopt a Vine scheme offering people the chance to have their name on a vine and enjoy a vineyard tour and wine-tasting.

They have also created links with tourism and catering students at Huddersfield University and Kirklees College and most recently a German university.

Now they plan to start running vineyard tours to the public with wine-tasting and wine-making workshops.

Becky, 37, said: “We are trying to give a bit back on the education side. We are also going to set up courses learning how to make wine here.”

Ian added: “We want to get people more involved in the vineyard. A lot of people haven’t tried English wines and there’s quite a few for people to taste.

“A lot of people just turn up so it will be nice to be able to give them a proper tour.”

Organised tours and wine tasting are being run at various times on September 27, 28 and 29.

The sessions last up to two hours and cost £4 each. To book a place email contactus@holmfirthvineyard.com.

The couple’s two-year journey to create one of the biggest wine farms from scratch has been featured on Channel Five’s Build A New Life In The Country.